Man jailed for getting friend to impersonate another man to take private-hire driver licence test

• Ng Chai offered to take a private-hire driver’s licence test on behalf of an acquaintance who lacked the necessary English language skills
• Ng then realised he had been banned from sitting the test as he had tried to impersonate someone else previously
• Ng got another acquaintance to take the test for the man
• Testing officials were suspicious but the test went ahead
• The plot unravelled when the man failed the test and returned to arrange a second test

SINGAPORE — He agreed to take a private-hire driver’s vocational licence test for his acquaintance, but ran into trouble because he had already been banned by the authorities for trying to do this previously.

Ng Chai then recruited another acquaintance to help out, but the plot unravelled when the other man failed the test.

On Thursday (Dec 17), Ng, aged 62, was jailed four weeks after pleading guilty to one count of abetment of cheating by personation (a technical legal term broadly referring to impersonation).

He will begin serving his sentence on Dec 28.

The court heard that Ng was chatting with Tan Chai Meng at a coffee shop along Sin Ming Drive sometime last year when he learned that Tan was undergoing chemotherapy for stomach cancer.

As a result, Tan could not work long hours as a lorry driver.

Ng suggested that Tan work as a private-hire driver instead. However, Tan, 52, said that he could not speak or write English in order to pass the test, which comprised two theory papers.

Ng then said that he could take the test on Tan’s behalf. The other man agreed, proceeding to register for classes and booking a test slot on Jan 2 this year.

However, Ng later realised that he could not take the test because he had previously been caught trying to take the test for somebody else. The Land Transport Authority had banned him from further attempts.

Because of this, Ng approached his friend Ho Yow Peng, 59, to do it. Ho agreed.

Ng knew both men from a temple association on Geylang Road.

On the day of the test, Ng passed Tan’s National Registration Identity Card (NRIC), driving licence, bank card and a spare mobile phone to Ho.

When Ho got to the test centre at the CityCab building in Sin Ming later that day, he presented Tan’s NRIC and driving licence to a specialist tester under TransportSG for identity verification.

At the time, TransportSG was handling the issuance of private-hire drivers’ vocational licences here.

The tester, however, noticed that Ho looked different from Tan’s photograph in the NRIC.

After asking another colleague to take a look, they called Tan’s name three times. Ho did not respond until the third time.

He also did not make eye contact, instead continuing to stare at the tablet screen on which he was taking the test.

When the tester questioned him, he insisted that he was Tan. He also said that he did not have any other photo identification on him when the tester asked him to provide more documents.

Upon returning for the second theory test later, he provided Tan’s bank card, which did not have a photo on it.

The tester asked him for Tan’s address as stated on Tan’s NRIC and called the mobile phone listed in the phone records. Tan’s spare mobile phone, in Ho’s possession, rang.

Still, the tester pressed him on the discrepancy between his appearance and Tan’s photo in the NRIC. He replied that he had lost a lot of weight from being in the hospital for two months after a serious accident.

The tester took a photo of him for record purposes, advising him to provide other photo identification for a re-test on Jan 7 since he had failed the second test.

The next day, Ho went back to ask for a printout of his test result in order to retake the test. The tester’s colleague confronted him there.

It is unclear if Tan or Ho have been charged with any offence.

Ng could have been jailed up to five years or fined, or both.